


Crash Landing Into You

by GeorgiaPeachTea



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Airplane Crashes, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Other, Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:47:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24591043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeorgiaPeachTea/pseuds/GeorgiaPeachTea
Summary: Elizabeth Marks is going on a romantic getaway with her longtime boyfriend, Dean Boland, to Bora Bora. This vacation quickly transforms into the vacation from hell when she has an encounter with Christopher "Rio" Martinez. Can she survive this vacation with him?
Relationships: Beth Boland/Dean Boland, Beth Boland/Rio, Beth Boland/Ruby Hill/Annie Marks
Comments: 86
Kudos: 349





	1. Six Days and Seven Nights

**Author's Note:**

> This story is loosely inspired by the Harrison Ford film Six Days and Seven Nights. No beta was used so all mistakes are my own.

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

Beth groans, turns over to her nightstand to turn off her 5:30 a.m. alarm. She hates waking up this early, but her body has never allowed her to have more than six hours of sleep since she was a teenager. 

She extends her arm across the bed, expecting to hit Dean to wake him up but as she turns over, she finds the sheets cool. 

As she sits up and wipes the drool from her mouth; she starts listing off all of the tasks she needs to complete before going to work. The first thing she needs is coffee. She heads out of the bedroom towards the kitchen to put on a nice strong cup when she overhears a loud panting. 

It sounded like there was a pug in the living room but it’s just Dean. 

As she walks past the front door, she saw that the door was ajar. She slammed it close and locked the door. 

Beth huffs and starts heading toward the noise. This is not how she wanted her morning to start. 

“Yeah, send the contracts to my office this morning.” Dean breathing heavy. “I’ll have him take a look at it and we’ll get back to you.” 

“Dean.” Beth is walking closer to the living room where the Peloton bike is stationed. “Dean!” Beth yells loudly. 

“Bob! I’m telling you man he is going to pull through this time.” Dean pedals faster. “I spoke with him last night. Done deal!” 

He looks so stupid on this bike. He only bought it because he claims he wanted to “lose weight” but hasn’t drop not one pound since he bought it six months ago. Beth giggles as she scans him down watching him jiggle. Dean turns to his right and finally noticed Beth watching him from the kitchen. 

A small smile comes across his face but quickly drops it when she doesn’t immediately return it. 

“Bob, I put the vroom vroom vroom back in his engine” chuckling loudly. 

“Dean!” Beth exclaims as she rolls her eyes. 

“I’ll call you in the office Bob. Bye” as he turns off the bike. “What?” Dean questions innocently as he turns his Beth and give his full attention. Beth glares at him. “What time did you come home last night?” 

Dean removes his Air pods. “Huh?” Beth glares at him as he has that stupid look on his face. “I said what time did you come home last night. You left the door unlock again!”

Beth knows he is about to lie. His eyebrows scrunch and his ears seem to lift just like Scooby on Scooby Doo. “Umm, I think it was around 12 I was finishing up a last-minute deal,” as he scratches his head. 

He’s lying. She was awake until one finishing up a last-minute recipe that she is going to add to her menu at the bakery. 

“Can you just remember to do it next time? I don’t want to have some thieves or gang members waiting for me in the kitchen when I get home.” She says exhausted. 

Hopping off the Peloton bike and grabbing his towel to wipe off his sweat. “Don’t be dramatic Bethie. Do you have time to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast?” He kisses the top of her forehead as he moves past her. 

\-- Dean’s Office --

Dean stepping off the elevator onto the twentieth-floor walking into Goldberg, Rosenberg and Stern talent agency. As he is walking to his corner office, he passes Gail, his coworker, who is competing against the same promotion for the New York office as he is. 

“Good Morning Gail,” plastering a fake smile across his face. 

She scoffs, “What do you want Boland?” 

“Come on Gail, don’t be like that.” As he walks closer to her. “I just had no idea you were trying to go for that promotion in New York. I mean come on you can’t be serious,” as he laughs dryly. 

Gail crosses her arms across her chest which cause her breasts to be more known. Dean has always been attractive to her since she started working at the firm two years ago. They used to hook up while traveling for work, but she called things off between them last year when she wanted to “dedicate herself to her marriage.” Dean rolls his eyes thinking about the stupid conversation she had with him last year. She may have cooled things between them but when she gets a couple of glasses of Chardonnay in her system than it’s like what husband. 

“Why wouldn’t I be serious, Boland?” Gail asks as she closes the gap in between them. 

“Is this revenge? You can’t be still mad at me for rejecting you a month ago.” As he furrows his brow. “We’ve had some good times, right? No reason to make this personal between us,” whispering into her ear. 

She pushes past him and calls out from down the hall “I don’t think that highly of you. That promotion is mind Boland.” 

Thing have become tense between the two colleagues back in September when she offered to help alleviate any stress when they were working late together one evening in the office. Normally, he would have taken her up on her offer as he has done a couple of times before, but he just wasn’t in the mood for the office drama. She couldn’t be trusted. 

Shay, his thirty-year old, green eyes and brunette, secretary approaches him as he is about to enter his office. “Good Morning Mr. Boland,” she smiles sweetly as she reaches to grab his winter coat off his shoulders. 

“Good Morning Shay you look beautiful as ever,” flirting with the young woman. “Has he called?”

She reaches up on her toes to hang up his coat on the hanger behind her desk. “Sir, he has called at least three times between this morning and last night.” 

Dean gasps, “Well did you tell him that I was busy in a meeting or something?” 

Shay is sweet but she doesn’t have a lying bone in her body which would be endearing as a nun but not as someone who is supposed to act like his gatekeeper. 

“Yes sir, I did but he insisted that you call him immediately. He didn’t sound very happy.” 

“When does he ever?” Deans scoffs. 

“Get him on the phone now! Hold all of my calls.” 

“Yes sir,” as she begins to take her seat, she hands him a list of messages. “Oh, and sir, Amber called again she said the Amex isn’t working again.” 

Dean begins to turn a shade of pink. “Yeah, my sister, she needed to use the Amex to purchase some stuff for our mom,” he stutters. 

“Right, I’ll patch him through to line two.” 

Dean walks into his office and dropped his belongings on the side of his desk. Shay buzzes his phone. “Mick is on line two.” 

Dean clicks the line over. “Where you been Boland?” Mick asks without frills. 

“Mick! I’m so sorry man that I missed his calls. I had a family emergency last night.” 

Mick cuts him off, “Yeah we don’t pay you all this money for you to not answer his calls. Understood?” 

Fuck, I hate this guy. Dean thinks. 

“Yeah I got it man. Is he available?” 

Mick hands the phone over to Rio as he enters the living room. 

“What does 20 percent mean t’you?” Rio asks roughly on the phone. 

“Sorry man –” 

“It means I pay you too much of my damn money for you to be ignorin’ my calls.” 

“Won’t happen again. So, what did you call about? Shay hasn’t passed me any of my messages yet,” as he stares down at the stack of messages in front of him on his desk. 

“Did the network agree to my terms? Gretchen sent over my contract and it’s a bunch o’ bullshit man,” Rio paces and forth in the living room. He hates talking to Dean unless absolutely necessary. 

Dean has been managing Rio’s career for the past three years. They’ve had some successful wins but overall the guy rubs Rio the wrong way and he’s a dumbass. Mick and Gretchen have been trying to convince him to look for other representation but every time he relents. 

“Umm... let me take a look. Hold on,” as Dean starts frantically look all over his desk for the contract Shay gave him the other day with the Network’s rebuttal. 

“Yeah, you’re not goin’ to put me on hold. Find out and call me back and really quick too ‘fore you lose a client.” Rio hangs up on him. 

“You should have fired him six months ago when he messed up on that Good Morning America Interview,” Mick mutters. 

Rio stops pacing and looks up and glares at Mick. He knows his friend right, but he needs Boland to secure his new show with National Geo. This deal is huge for him. If this deal goes through than he’ll have complete creative control and set his own schedule. This deal has been in the works over the past 15 months and it’s down to the wire trying to make sure everything is set. 

“Yeah, you think so?” Rio asks sarcastically. 

Mick hums and walks away to the kitchen to make some tea. 

Rio rolls his eyes at his childhood friend. Mick is his right-hand man, who happens to lead his security team with Dags, Bullet, and Mr. Cisco. They’ve been friends since he was 10 years old when Mick moved into the neighborhood back in Detroit. 

His phone starts buzzing. Three texts from Gretchen confirming that he needs to review the list of architects that she’s vetted to build his new restaurant next year. This has been a dream for him since he was younger to own a restaurant in Mexicantown, a neighborhood, in downtown Detroit. Just as he was about to open her messages, Dean’s call comes through. 

“You better have some good news for me or this may be your last conversation as my agent,” Rio says firmly. 

“Great news! The network has accepted your terms and has greenlit you to start filming at the end of November.” Dean states excitedly. 

“That is great news man, for you at least,” says Rio sarcastically. 

“We need to start filming your promoting reel once I come back from vacation.” 

“Vacation?” Rio hums. “When were you planning on telling me you were going on vacation? Naw see the timing don’t work out too good for you. I need all hands-on deck until I start filming.” 

Dean can hear in Rio’s tone that is not up for debate. He promised Beth they can go somewhere special for their five-year anniversary. He surprised her with tickets to Bora Bora a couple of months ago when he returned from his latest trip to New York. 

“But I’ve already had this planned for the past six months. It’s my anniversary. I plan on proposing to my girlfriend. We’ve been together for five years.” Dean babbles. 

“I’m sorry, did I ask about your plans?” Rio clenches his jaw. He really can’t stand this guy. 

“But Rio --” Dean stutters out. 

“What did I just say?” Rio asks. 

“What if we move some things up and you can film while I’m in Bora Bora? It’s close to the first island we’re starting at. I can have Shay arrange to book your travel. What do you say?” 

The main issue Rio has with Dean besides being untrustworthy and given off an aura of being a car salesman is that he always feels that he knows best. 

“Yeah, I can book my own travel. I’ll be in touch with my decision,” Rio hangs up the phone. 

A vacation doesn’t sound bad right about now. Given the drama and the PR nightmare he’s been battling with over the past couple of months a trip is warranted. 

– – Flashback – – 

Back in April, Rio appeared on Good Morning America, GMA, to promote his new season of Travel’s Channel: Boarders Unreached. 

The interview started off well with the Michael Strahan asking him questions about what viewers can expect this season as he travels and enjoys delicacies from around the world. Five minutes into the interview things went left when Michael brought up some drama that occurred behind the scenes this past season. 

“Christopher, there are some rumblings in the blogs that you got into a physical altercation with your cameraman, James Turner, do you care to comment?” Michael is leaning his body towards Rio on the couch. 

Rio bites the inside of his cheek and looks off stage to his left to glare at Dean. He told Dean he didn’t want to discuss this bullshit since the bastard was suing him for assault. 

“Christopher, the blogs have reported that you sent him to the hospital with a broken jar and a busted eye socket. Some people have commented on social media asking the network to remove your show from the lineup due to the savage beating Turner endured. What is your response?” 

His blood was boiling. The nerve of this jackass. He rolls his shoulders in hopes that it can rear in his impending rage. 

“Rio,” Rio mutters gravely

“I’m sorry what did you say?” Michael asks Rio. 

“You called me Christopher. My name is RIO.” He states slowly. 

“Okay Rio, do you care to comment?” 

“I got a comment for you. You can tell that motherfucker that he is lucky that I didn’t cause worse damage than I did.” Rio grits his teeth. He stands up and yanks the mic from underneath his shirt and storms off set. “This interview is over.” 

– – Flashback over – – 

To say the network was happy with his performance on GMA was an understatement. They hired a PR team to help him with damage control. He’s been on an apology tour and volunteering at various charities for the past couple of months to help appear sympathetic to the viewers. 

He knows the network won’t fire him. Rio is their money maker. He’s been with Travel Channel for the past six years and the network’s youngest host at age 30. His show has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for the past five years. If he needs to schmooze a few people to keep them satisfied to make this National Geo deal happen than he’ll suck it up. 

– – Beth’s Bakery – – 

Beth pulls up behind the Gratiock shopping plaza. She gets out of her car to walk to the back door of Call Me Sweets. She opened her bakery back in 2014 with her life savings and a prayer from Ruby. 

She cuts on the lights and heads to the fridge to start pulling the desserts to display in the case up in the front. 

She begins to pull down the ingredients to start making her new tart recipe that she discovered last night while waiting for Dean to come home. This new recipe will sure bring in new traffic into her bakery. Her bakery is fairly successful since she opened in the shopping plaza next to Fine and Frugal. 

As she waits for the dough to rise, she hears the back door open with Ruby pushing the door close. 

“Hey, sorry that I’m late. Harry has been keeping me up all night,” Ruby says while hanging up her coat and purse on the hook by the office. 

“Morning,” she walks over to give her best friend a kiss on the cheek. 

“B, you seriously need to invest in getting larger aprons. How is this supposed to fit over my stomach?” Ruby asks as she attempts to tie her apron around her pregnant belly. 

Beth giggles. “Hey no one told you and Stan to revisit your weed stash from eight years ago and create a human.” 

“Whatever, what do you need me to do?” 

“Can you finish putting the chocolate and banana tortes in the display case? Also, I need you to write today’s special on the easel board too.” 

Ruby stares at her best friend of 20 years like she lost her mind. “What?” Beth asks while she puts the mixing bowl back in the fridge. 

“You do understand I’m pregnant right?” 

“Pregnant? No! I haven’t realized,” Beth says sarcastically. 

“If I go into premature labor with all of this bending down, you’re going to be the one to tell Stan it’s your fault.” 

“Fine. I’ll do the easel, but can you start the coffee instead?” 

The morning rush comes in around 8:30 with people buying all of Ruby’s croissants that she made yesterday. The day goes by fairly normal with her bursts of customers around the after-lunch crowd buying treats to bring home to their husbands or kids. 

“Alright I’m about to head to Sarah’s school to go pick her up. Stan has a double today at the mall. I’ll see you tonight for the Real Housewives.” Ruby hangs up her apron on the hook as she grabs her coat and purse. 

“Okay it’s your turn to bring the snacks.” Beth kneads the dough for the last batch of croissants to go out this afternoon before she starts to prepare for the batter for tomorrow’s strudel. 

Around six, Beth starts making sure the batter for the pastries she’s promoting tomorrow is in the fridge and everything is shut off in the front. She walks toward the front door, turns the lock, and flips the open sign to closed. 

Her neck is killing her. She is in desperate need of a deep tissue massage. This trip is coming at the perfect time. She can relax before the shop goes crazy with Holiday orders. 

Beth is getting the wine glasses down from the cabinet when she hears her front door close and Annie walks in. 

“Hey, What’s up with your nosy neighbor across the hall?” Annie asks as she steps further into the apartment.

“Who? Mrs. Karpinski?” Beth starts pouring a glass of the Cabernet, Annie swiped from work. 

“Yeah, her. She’s always staring at me in the hallway. Like chill bitch I’m not going to rob you.” Annie grabs the glass and plops on the couch. “Where’s Ruby? I haven’t eaten all day and I’m counting on those buggles to be my dinner.” 

“Annie.” 

“What?” Annie shrugs her should innocently. 

“You need to eat. You work at a grocery store. How are you not eating?” 

“Relax. I usually eat at work by swiping some bread and meat from the deli to make me a sandwich, but Boomer has been watching me like a hawk.” 

Ugh. Boomer. Annie, her younger sister’s boss, is literally the worse. The few encounters that Beth has endured with him have not been pleasant. He gives off creepy vibes. He’s always staring at her breasts when he comes into the bakery. She hates that Annie has to work with him. 

“I have leftover chicken picatta from last night in the fridge if you want to heat that up.” Beth grabs her glass and heads to join Annie on the couch when Ruby walks through the front door. 

“Finally! I’ve been craving these babies,” Annie reaches for the bag of buggles Ruby has in her arm. 

“Well hello to you too,” as Ruby rolls her eyes at Annie. “Am I late? Has Ramona drunk cried yet for not having Mario in her life anymore?” 

“Nope you’re just in time,” as Beth clicks to Bravo on her tv. 

Dean walks into the apartment as the episode is about to end. Instantly rolling his eyes when he remembers Beth was having her friend and sister over for girl’s night. 

“Deansie, where is my plane ticket to Bora Bora? If you’re going to date my sister than you have to share the wealth with me and Ben.” Annie turns around in her seat to look at Dean. She knows how he hates that nickname. 

“Umm... Beth can I talk to you for a moment?” Completely ignoring Annie. 

“Sure, give me 10 minutes I need to find out if Sonja is going to mention being a Morgan for the tenth time today,” she says as she leans for more Buggles on the coffee table. 

Beth walks into the bedroom as Dean is reaching in the dresser for his pajamas. “What’s up?” She asks as he heads into the bathroom to go take a shower. 

“You didn’t remind me this morning that they were going to be over tonight.” As he stalks closer to the shower to turn on the nozzle. 

“Excuse me. Is it a problem that they’re here?” She walks closer inside of the bathroom. 

“No. I mean we haven’t spent much time together since I came back from New York a couple of weeks ago.” Quickly back tracking his tone if he has any plans on having sex tonight. 

“Whose fault is that? You’re always working late.” Beth spat. 

“I know and I’m sorry Bethie. I promise this vacation will bring us closer together,” as he begins to remove his clothes. 

“Yeah I know. I’ll say good night to the girls and prepare for bed,” as she walks out of the bedroom to head back to the living room. 

“What did he want?” Annie asks as she tops off her glass of wine. 

“Sex.” She states frankly. 

Annie spits out her drink. “Gross Annie,” Beth scolds her sister. 

“Eww it’s hard to imagine you getting busy with that Neanderthal,” as she bends down to clean up the spill. 

“Annie,” Beth rolls eyes her eyes as she pours the remaining bottle into her glass. 

“I wish Stan and I could afford to go on a trip to a tropical island. Seven days in paradise,” Ruby starts rubbing her belly. “Meanwhile I’ll be spending the Holidays on bed rest until Harry wants to make his appearance,” as she talks to her unborn child. 

Beth is so happy for her best friend. Ruby was blessed to find Stan back in high school in band class. Sometimes she has moments where she is jealous of the life Ruby lives. She has an amazing husband and is a great mother to Sarah and a future Harry. 

Beth giggles. “Please, you say that now until you’re calling Annie and I to come rescue you from a newborn crying at three in the morning.” 

Ruby stands up to gather her belongings. “Come on Annie I’ll give you a ride home since you drunk the whole bottle.” 

“Cool,” Annie makes her way towards Beth to give her a hug. “If you feel inclined to bring back your favorite sister and nephew some souvenirs back, we’ll love you forever.” 

Beth hugs Annie back. “I’m your only sister Annie,” as she laughs at Annie’s shenanigans. 

She walks them to the door and says goodbye to her friends. 

Beth walks to the bedroom after locking the door once the girls left. Dean is laying against the headboard smiling at his phone. 

“What are you smiling at?” Beth walks into the en suite to change into her pajamas.

“Nothing. It’s just a stupid meme Bob sent me,” he quickly shuts off his phone and climbs underneath the covers. 

Beth comes back into the bedroom and sits on the edge of the bed to lotion her legs. Dean starts crawling toward her and begins kissing her right shoulder. 

“Dean,” Beth lifts her shoulder hoping to give him the hint that she is not in the mood. He ignores her and begins to kiss her left side. “Dean, stop I’m tired.” She shrugs her shoulder to push him off her. He attempts to restart again until she elbows him in the stomach. 

“Dean seriously get off. I’m not in the mood tonight. I’m tired, okay?” 

Dean scoffs, “When are you ever in the mood?” 

He’s right. Over the past couple of months, she hasn’t been interested in sex with Dean. The bakery has been taking a toll on her since Ruby has become so deep in her pregnancy that Beth has taken on more responsibilities at the bakery. It’s not solely her fault that she doesn’t want to be intimate with him, but she feels that they have become disconnected since his last trip to New York. 

“I’m sorry just not tonight.” Beth leans over and places a small kiss on his lips. 

“Whatever,” he turns over and goes to sleep. 

– ¬– A month later at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) – – 

Beth is running through the airport terminal to get to her gate. She’s on the phone with Annie frantically trying to find the new gate number that was displayed on the departures monitor. 

“When did they change the terminals?” Beth breathing heavily on the phone sprinting with her carry-on suitcase and purse in hand. She should have rethought her attire had she known she was going to be running a marathon in the Detroit airport. 

“They haven’t changed the terminals at least I don’t think so,” Annie sounds unsure. 

Beth approaches the gate agent to see if Dean has arrived to check into their seats. When she reads the monitor behind the agent the departure time has changed. Delayed flashes across the screen. She exhales loudly as she rights her dress that bunched up during her sprint.

She texts Dean to let him know that their flight has been delayed by an hour. 

She desperately needs a drink badly. She scans the terminal to see if she can find a bar nearby. As soon as she turns to her right, she spots a bar not too far from her gate. She gathers her belongings and begins to make her way. 

The airport bar is pretty packed. She attempts to navigate around the crowds of people to see if there is an open seat. 

She is craving a nice finger of Bourbon right now to calm her nerves. 

She had a stressful morning prior to arriving at the airport. Ruby faced challenges while opening up the bakery this morning with their supplier. She had to race to the café to diffuse the situation before a very pregnant Ruby stabs Joe, the supplier. Once that situation was settled, she went back home to grab her suitcase and wait for Annie to come pick her up. The initial plan was for her and Dean to ride together but he claimed he had some last-minute work to attend to. 

Annie’s car had broken down on the side of the highway, so she had to call an Uber to come pick her up. She got stopped by TSA as they rifled through her luggage. They threw out her favorite lotion and tossed around the new lingerie she brought on the trip for Dean. It was not her day. The only thing that could make this day better is her friend, Bourbon. 

As she navigates through the packed bar area, she sees an older gentleman get up from his seat to leave. She makes her way to the open seat before someone else snags the chair. As she is about to set her purse down on the chair handle a slim figure casts a shadow over her as they slide into the seat. The man instantly turns his to right and gives the tattooed and bearded gentleman seated next to him, a handshake gesture and starts a conversation. 

Beth scoffs. Asshole. The nerve of this guy to steal her seat. I mean she was practically standing next to the chair. 

Normally she would have slapped on her fake “Suburban” smile and start looking for a new seat, but she’s had quite the day. The last thing she needs to make matters worse is to get into a fight with this asshole. 

Fuck it. She needs a drink before she boards this 13-hour flight and something to get her just enough buzz to deal with Dean’s snoring. 

She stands up straight and juts out her chin preparing for a fight with this man. “Excuse me sir that’s my seat,” she says firmly behind the gentleman’s back. 

The man ignores her and continues on his conversation with the bearded fellow. 

Asshole. 

She looks back around the bar for another seat but it’s still pretty packed. She checks her phone to see if Dean has texted her if he has arrived at the gate. When she looks at her phone screen no messages appear. 

The guy in front of her is being a jerk. “Hey jackass, that was my seat,” as she taps roughly on his shoulder. 

The man pauses his conversation with his friend and slowly turns his head to look at her. 

She gasps. She opens and closes her mouth like a fish. 

Christopher “Rio” Martinez is in front of her. Christopher “Rio” Martinez is the asshole who stole her seat. Christopher “Rio” Martinez is much more handsome in person than what she has seen on TV. 

Unaware that she hasn’t made any other sounds since he turned around. She can feel her cheeks pink. 

An amused smirk appears across his face. His gaze travels slowly up and down her body amused that she is staring at him right now. 

Rio arches his eyebrow. He’s waiting for her to say something. Nothing comes out. 

She’s rendered speechless. 

He turns back around and continues his conversation with his friend. 

Get it together Beth. He’s just a regular guy who stole your seat. A really hot and rich guy who stole your seat. A really hot and rich asshole who stole your seat. The last reminder made her irate again remembering that she had a purpose here. 

Bourbon. 

She taps him roughly on his shoulder again to get his attention. “Hey,” she snaps. 

When he turns back around the amused smirk that was there merely seconds before has been replaced with a tense look. 

“Yeah, sweetheart I don’t do autographs,” as he waves her off to dismiss her.

She scoffs loudly. The nerve of this asshole. 

She taps his shoulder harder for a third time. He whips his head immediately visibly irritated with an arch eyebrow.

She straightens her back and juts out her chin. “You’re in my seat. Are you going to move?” She asks as she stands in her power pose. 

“No.” 

“Excuse me.” 

“I’m sorry sweetheart. What part are you having trouble with understanding?” He says condescendingly. 

“You took my seat. I was about to sit down. So, you need to move” she says sternly. This tone usually works on Annie and Dean, but it has no effect on Christopher Martinez. 

The nerve of this guy to walk around entitled just because he’s a celebrity. She rolls her eyes. 

He softens. “Naw, let’s forget all of that. I’m not moving but I can buy you a drink if you ask nicely,” with a smug grin on his face. 

Beth was seething red just as she was about to explode on him her phone vibrates with a call from Dean. She storms away to answer his call. “Where are you,” she snaps.

“I’m at the gate, where are you? They’re about to start boarding in 15 minutes” ignoring her tone.

She walks back to the gate and begins to tell Dean about her altercation with Rio at the bar. She offered sentiments to Dean for having to work for that asshole. Dean is quiet throughout her entire spiel with the exception of a few muttered “uh huh”. 

She realizes that he’s not listening to her, so she stops rambling. 

“You know what forget it. He’s not important. Good thing he isn’t coming to Bora Bora with us. Let’s just enjoy our vacation.” She smiles. 

Dean remains quiet. He hasn’t told Beth that Rio and his team will be joining their trip. He had plans to just casually mention it once they saw him at the resort.

They’re in the Business class boarding group. She’s never flown anything except Coach so she’s bubbling with excitement to finally receive a free blanket without having to barter for it with the flight attendant. 

As she walks through First Class, she sees a couple in the last row devouring each other’s faces. Disgust flashes across her face. Get a room. They look they’re about two minutes from having sex at the front of the plane. 

The raw passion that exudes from this couple makes Beth reflect back on her and Dean’s lackluster relationship. 

This trip is for them to get their sex drive back on track. She zones out thinking of the lingerie she got to surprise Dean unaware that she is still staring at the couple. 

A throat clears. When she looks up, she notices the man who was one shoving his tongue down the young woman’s throat is no other than Rio. Fuck. 

“See something you like, darlin’” as he drawls lazily. 

Beth scoffs and rolls her eyes at him. The flight attendant behind Dean encourages her to keep walking towards her seat. 

Anger fills through her veins as she glares back at Dean. Of course, he would bring her on a work trip. Dick. 

“You didn’t tell me that our romantic getaway is with Christopher Martinez”. She grits her teeth. Beth clenches her hands around the arm rest trying to prevent her from slapping Dean. 

“You just can’t stop working for one minute. Can you? And you wonder why we never spend any time together anymore.” She snaps. 

This trip is already the trip from hell, and she hasn’t left Detroit yet. 

“Bethie, I didn’t think you would mind.” Dean pleads with her. “We won’t be spending any time with him. I promise.”

“Fine,” as she crosses her arms and stares out the window. 

“I just have two meetings with him in the morning and then our vacation can begin.” He murmurs underneath his breath.

“What!” She whispers shouts. If looks could kill, Dean would have been murdered 10x over in the span of two minutes.

“It’s just one dinner and a breakfast meeting to review our shooting schedule for the upcoming month,” as he buckles his seatbelt. 

“We just need to get through these two meetings, and we can enjoy Bora Bora.” Dean gives her a weak smile hoping that she would call a truce during the remainder of this flight. 

As soon as Beth spots a flight attendant; she flags her down and requests three mini bottles of bourbon. 

“I’m sorry ma’am but we aren’t allowed to hand out any beverages until we’ve taken off,” says the attendant sweetly. 

Beth glowers at the young woman. “This is business class, right?” 

“Yes,” the woman still has her smile plastered across her face unaware of the hell storm Beth will bring down upon her head if she doesn’t get any alcohol.

“So, get me my damn bottles than. Now.” The flight attendant drops her smile upon hearing Beth’s tone. 

Beth reciprocates the smile across her face. 

“Yes, right away.” The flight attendant hurries back down the aisle to fetch Beth her mini bottles. 

Finally, her solace in a bottle.


	2. Day Damn One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Dean arrive at their hotel in Bora Bora. Unexpected events take shape and transforms into the night of Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, 
> 
> Sorry it has taken me so long to update this chapter. I had some personal stuff to happen to me and then suffered writer's block. I hope you like this chapter. For a description of the resort and Beth's dress please see the links at the end of the chapter.

The town car pulls up to the front gate of the Four Seasons resort, a paradise oasis. Beth’s jaw immediately drops as the car begins to descend down the driveway with a view of the hotel surrounded by the ocean like its own island. The closest she has ever been on a vacation like this was when Dean took her on a weekend getaway to the Mackinac Island.

Dean squeezes her hand as she stares out of the window to get her attention.

“Ready for vacation Bethie,” he smiles warmly at her.

Dean has truly pulled out all of the stops for their anniversary. She wasn’t expecting to stay at a resort quite this luxurious. She would have settled for a Sandals resort or a cruise.

As the car comes to a stop at the front of the hotel, the valet opens her door and greets her warmly. “Welcome to the Four Seasons, Mrs. Boland.”

Beth blushes as the valet calls her Mrs. Boland. It’s not that she hasn’t thought about marrying Dean it’s just that she isn’t sure if he would propose to her anytime soon. They have been together for almost five years and they have hardly discussed marriage. Anytime she tries to hint toward the future he derails the conversation to talk about his career.

Dean comes around the car and wraps his arm around Beth’s waist tugging her closer to his chest. He tips the valet and pats him on his back.

They step into the hotel lobby, greeted by the concierge with leis and Mai Tai’s waiting their welcome. Dean steps up to the hotel desk to check them in for their reservation. The bell hop grabs their belongings and loads up the hotel trolley to transport them to their villa for the week.

The villa that they’re staying in is located on the south end of the resort. They have an oceanside view at their back door. Once they arrive through their front door Beth is taken aback by the size of the room. Her entire apartment can fit inside their one-bedroom villa. She walks around the villa and takes in the King-sized bed that leads into double doors that opens up the lagoon on their patio. She walks around to the other side of the bed to a pair of sliding doors. She slides the doors open, walking into the bathroom, running her fingers along the edge of the bathtub in the center of the room. She marvels at the size of the tub imagining herself taking a relaxing bath after the long thirteen-hour flight she endured listening to Dean snore.

She steps out on the patio to initiate a group video call on WhatsApp to Annie and Ruby to show them her room. She immediately dives into the confrontation she had with Rio back at the airport. Ignoring Annie’s colorful commentary about all of the things she will do to his body if she were in Beth’s shoes. She hangs up the phone after an hour promising the girls to snap more pictures of the resort and to sneak a picture of Rio for Annie. She rolls her eyes at the latter. 

Dean walks up to her in his swim trunks as she gets off the phone telling her that he is headed to meet Rio at the beach. Beth ushers him to go and enjoy himself so she can have time to unwind before tonight’s festivities.

“Have fun! Don’t forget to wear sunscreen Dean. I mean it. I don’t need your mother to hear your mother rant to me about your sun burn when we get back on Sunday,” she calls out as he walks out the door.

She heads back into the bedroom to lay down for a few minutes before she enjoys the luxuries of the bathtub.

– – 

Dean walks back into the villa as Beth walks out of the bathroom in her towel.

“Bethie, you have to check out the jet skis. It’s amazing. Rio and I raced around the island,” Dean beams.

“Great! Did you win?” Beth happily asks. At least Dean has been able to have fun since their arrival. She needed distance between them since his deception on the plane. She was still angry at him for lying about Rio and his entourage coming on the trip. She decided to follow Ruby’s advice and let the anger go during her long bath.

“Sure,” he answers non-committal while heading into the closet to grab his clothes for their dinner this evening.

“So, this dinner tonight I need you to make me look good. Maybe wear that dress you wore to my company’s party last year. You looked so hot!” Dean reaches for his tacky blue Hawaiian shirt and white slacks.

“It’s too hot to wear that dress Dean,” as she begins to rub lotion into her thighs.

“Okay well I need to hop in the shower we have reservations in an hour. Can you be a doll and iron my clothes for me?” Dean asks as he walks into the bathroom.

She rolls her eyes and grabs his clothes from the bed. Sometimes Dean treats her more like his mother than his girlfriend. 

As Beth irons his slacks, she hears a constant buzzing. She leans over the ironing board to check her phone on the end table to see if Annie sent her anymore pictures of some guy who ghosted her last week after they slept together. She couldn’t remember if his name was Brad, Brian, or a combination of the sort. She taps on the screen of her phone to check but there were no new messages.

Buzz Buzz

She turns her head to look around the bedroom to find the source of the buzzing but to no avail.

Buzz Buzz

Buzz Buzz

She gets up to walk to the closet to put on her dress but as she walks pass the dresser, she sees Dean’s phone light up on top. She grabs his phone to silence it when she reads the name Amber flashing across the screen with over ten unread text messages.

She types in “2323” into his passcode to unlock his phone. She rolls her eyes that this is still his password to everything _2 Fast 2 Furious._

“What a child,” she mutters as she begins to read the messages.

Amber: Babe I miss you! Did you get my call?

Amber: Dean!!!!! Call me back.

Amber: I bought a new thong for you that you would like.

Amber: It’s blue and bedazzled. Just the way you like.

Amber: I miss you baby. Call me back!

Amber: I’m wearing this and nothing else. (Naked picture of a young, skinny, curly, blonde woman in a thong)

Amber: I hate that you’re back in Detroit looking after your mom. Is she feeling better? When will you be back in NY?

Amber: Why are you ignoring my texts?!

Amber: Call me tonight once you put your mom to bed.

She hears the shower shut off in the bathroom, so she quickly shuts off his phone and head into the closet to change into her dress for the evening. _Bastard._ He has the nerve to be cheating on her with a child, more or less, and acts like she is the reason for the lack of intimacy into her relationship. She quickly gets dressed and heads out of the villa. She is in desperate need of bourbon.

As she makes her way into the restaurant, she checks in with the hostess to let her know she will be at the bar until the rest of her party arrives.

As Beth enters the bar area, she notices a table full of middle-aged men that begin to leer at her as she looks around for a seat. She immediately reminds herself to curse out Annie for making her pack this dress. She’s wearing a floor length, forest green maxi dress with pink and white floral pattern that helps bring out the pink in her cheeks. The material hugs her figure wonderfully and makes her feel sexy. There is a high split in the dress that comes up to her waist that shows off her long pale legs. She immediately fell in love with the dress when she was out shopping with Annie and Ruby last week. Ruby reassured her that this dress will help spice up her and Dean’s sex life and if the dress didn’t help than the exposure of her breasts due to the lowcut V of the dress will drive him crazy. 

Beth ignores the group of men and proceeds to sit at one of the stools, farthest away from the other patrons. She orders a double of Maker’s Mark on the rocks. As the bartender sets down her drink, she quickly downs the amber liquid and orders another before the bartender has a chance to acknowledge another patron. As the bartender comes back with her next drink, she feels a shadow appear on her right. She is about to turn to the shadow and dismiss them when she hears a low gravely voice.

“Rough day?” Rio asks as he sits down on the stool next to her.

Beth scoffs. This is just what she needs right now. She rolls her eyes and prepares to ignore his question when he hurls another question at her.

“Don’t want to tell me? That’s fine, mind if I join you for a drink while we wait?” He signals the bartender to order a gin.

“Does it matter if I mind? You’re already sitting down,” she bites as she sips.

Rio chuckles lowly, “course it matters darlin’ but the way I see it you have two options here,” he states frankly. The bartender sets down his drink in front of him and pours Beth another shot of Bourbon into her glass.

“You can either hate me for the rest of the trip and sulk every time you see me, or we can move past what happened between us in Detroit and toast to being in paradise. What’s it going to be?” Rio lifts his glass in mid-air between the two of them waiting for her to decide.

Beth rolls her eyes, for what she feels like is the millionth time today and decides to enjoy her trip and forgo any reservations she has about Rio for the evening. She raises her glass to meet his and clink glasses. “Cheers,” Rio stares into her eyes as she downs her drink.

She focuses down on her drink than look up into the intensity of his stare. She feels uncomfortable underneath his gaze and yet a sense of warmth. The warmth more so stems from the three glasses of Bourbon she’s drunk in the span of fifteen minutes.

“You down here alone?” Rio questions as he takes another sip of his gin.

“Why?”

Rio shakes his head at her response.

“What?” Beth looks at him quizzically.

Rio purses his lips and begins to shift his eyes down to her cleavage, on full display, thanks to the lowcut of her dress. “Looking like you do in that dress I wouldn’t have let you leave the bedroom at all,” he states lowly.

Beth swallows, his answer was unexpected, and she finds herself at a loss of words. She can feel her cheeks pinking. The downside of being this pale is that her blush can make her redden like a tomato. His eyes seem to flick down to where her blush stops.

He smirks and takes another sip of his drink.

“You shouldn’t say things like that,” Beth mutters as she takes another sip of her drink.

“Why’s that?” Rio rests his chin in his palm and leans in closer to her.

“I’m here with Dean.” She states frankly.

Rio shrugs his shoulders, “So?”

“So? Aren’t you here with someone else or do you just frequently shove your tongue down strangers’ throats?”

Rio smirks, “I’m an admirer of beautiful things, Elizabeth.”

Heat begins to pool lower in her belly at the mention of her name but before she has a chance to respond Dean appears behind them.

“Bethie! There you are I’ve been looking for you. Our table is ready. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“Nah man,” Rio stands up from his seat. “I’ve been keeping her _company_ while we wait on you.” Rio smirks.

They head to the front of the restaurant to meet the rest of their party. Dean introduces Mick to Beth. She notices that Mick, is the man Rio was speaking to earlier at the airport bar. As she shakes Mick’s hand, she watches Rio turns his attention to a short, petite, African American young woman with an afro. He stalks closer to the young woman and pulls her in closely for a hug. 

Beth notices that this is the same woman he made out with on the airplane. She looks the woman up and down and immediately starts listing the differences between herself and the woman in her head. The woman, whose name she comes to find out is Dylan, is a yoga instructor from New York. Her and Rio met a year ago at her yoga studio and have been seeing each other casually. “Casually enough to bring her on a romantic getaway,” she thinks.

Throughout the course of dinner Rio and Dean discuss the finite details over Rio’s new show that begins filming within a couple of weeks. Beth remains silent throughout all six courses, still reeling from the events that have happened within the last 24 hours. From finding out that Dean has been cheating on her and Rio’s flirting at the bar she is ready for this night to be over. Her only survival technique through this dinner has been the steady flow of Bourbon that she requested from the waiter. It’s fair to say that she’s drunk at this point. She should probably slow down because she is unable to hear when the conversation seems to steer toward her direction.

“I’m sorry what?” Beth questions as she looks up from her glass and turns her attention to Dylan.

“I was asking you what you do for work Elizabeth?”

Before Beth can answer Dean cuts her off. “Oh, she works at this cute little bakery in Detroit.” Beth rolls her eyes at Dean. He can be such an asshole in situations like this. He can’t stand when the attention doesn’t revolve around him at all times. He’s barely stepped foot in her “little bakery” since they’ve started dating.

“What’s the name of the bakery? Maybe I’ve heard of it,” Mick chimes into the conversation. He’s barely spoken a word at dinner tonight unless you can count the grunts that come out of his mouth anytime Dean begins to speak.

“It’s called _Call Me Sweets_. I’ve _owned_ the bakery since 2014. The next time you’re in town you should come by.”

“I’ve read an article on ‘The FREEP’ _(The Detroit Free Press)_ last year talking about your bakery. The critic raved about some pastries you made around Thanksgiving that was shaped like little pilgrims and turkeys.”

“Yeah Bethie is amazing at baking it’s like her superpower!” Dean exclaims as he wraps his right arm around her shoulder. Beth rolls her eyes and shrugs his arm off her shoulder.

They change the conversation to Mick talking about the motorcycle shop that he owns back in Detroit. Beth was relieved she was in no mood to continuing the conversation with her state of drunkiness.

“Should we go to the beach party tonight? The concierge said they’ll have fire breather, a local dance performance, and an open tiki bar,” Dylan states.

Rio locks eyes with Beth across the table. “Sounds like fun. Y’all coming?”

Beth has no interest in continuing this night. She just wants to go back to her room and crawl into bed and forget all about today. “Actually, I think we’re –”

Dean cuts her off, “we’d loved too.”

– – Luau – –

Beth is sipping on her second Mai Tai of the evening at the Luau. Everyone around her seems to be enjoying themselves including Mick who is terribly flirting with some brunette at the bar. Beth is exhausted and desperately wants to go back to her room.

The luau itself is gorgeous. The resort decorated around the main pool with bright colorful leis hanging from the banisters of the poolside bar. The dance floor area is centered around various small round tables with a floral centerpiece on top. The tiki torches that line up on the outskirts of the party casts a beautiful glow on the partygoers. There is even a six-foot-long buffet table full of local foods and desserts.

The band begins to play a slow song as couples enter the dance floor to sway with their loved ones under the evening stars. She watches Mick lead the brunette to the dance floor and circle his arm around her tiny waist and move along with the song. As she continues to scan the floor to people watch, Dean leans into her ear asking her to dance. The luau is very romantic, and she would love to if this was under any other circumstance. Since she read those texts earlier, she would rather be devoured by a school of sharks than have Dean wrap his sweaty body against her frame. 

She slurps the last contents of her drink as her attention locks onto Rio and Dylan dancing intimately on the floor. She feels a pang of jealousy course through her body, but it’s not necessarily targeted at Dylan but the desire that appears in his eyes as he looks at Dylan. She hasn’t felt truly desired in so long. Dean has never looked at her the way Rio looks at Dylan or the way Rio looked at her while they were sitting at the bar earlier this evening. Hell, she would even take the way Mick looks at red meat.

“Beth”

“Beth!”

“Jesus Beth, have you not been listening to me this whole time?” Dean annoyingly asks after being ignored by her for the past five minutes.

Beth turns her attention back to Dean. He can be so needy sometimes.

“What! What do you want?”

“You need to cool it on the drinks for tonight Beth. I mean at dinner you weren’t paying attention to anyone unless it was the waiter handing you another drink.” Dean starts to raise his voice catching the attention from others around them.

“Lower your voice you’re drunk,” she glowers at him. 

“You know what maybe I am. You’ve embarrassed me enough tonight in front of Rio maybe you should know how it feels.”

“You’re an asshole,” Beth stands up and reaches for his drink to throw it in his face.

“What the fuck!” Dean wipes profusely at his face to clear off the vodka that is burning his eyes.

She storms off away from the party towards the water in need to escape from Dean. She closes her eyes and takes in a couple of deep breaths to calm her nerves. She can feel the tears starting to prick at her eyes. She reaches in her purse for her phone to call Ruby. She is the only person that can help dissolve her anger towards Dean and offer relationship advice. Just as her luck will have it, ‘no service’ flashes across the top right-hand corner of her phone. Great! She huffs, she has wandered too far away from the Wi-Fi at the hotel.

Her shoulders start to tense as she hears the sound of footsteps approach behind her. She is in no mood to listen to any of Dean’s half ass apology or scolding from pouring Vodka over him. “Honestly Dean, I’m _really_ not in the mood to talk to you right now. Just take me back to the room we’ll talk in the –”

The smell of the unfamiliar cologne floods her nostril and she instantly know it’s not Dean walking up behind her. She turns around to regard the mysterious stranger. It’s hard to make out who the person is until they step a couple of feet away from her with the light of the moon casting light on their face. She recognizes the stranger as one of the group of men from the bar earlier that was leering at her when she initially walked in. She takes a step back and starts scanning her eyes up the beach toward the party to see if she can make out Dean.

“Sorry to bother you but I was just wanted to make sure you were okay. It’s not safe for a beautiful woman such as yourself to wander off alone in the dark.”

She scoffs. “Did it occur to you that I may want to be alone,” she slurs.

A creepy smile comes across the guy’s face as he steps closer to Beth.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone. It’s not safe. Let me take you back up to your room,” he steps even closer towards her.

“Stay back!” She puts her hand to guard herself as he inches closer toward her. “Back I said!”

“Is this how you treat someone who is trying to help you?” He reaches out to grab onto her arm.

Her breathing quickens as she steps back further out of his grasp. She gasps as the cold water from the ocean hit the bottom of her feet. Her feet sink deeper into the sand as she moves further back into the ocean to escape from this man. She scans the beach again to see if anyone can rescue her. She must step on a rock in the sand and quickly staggers her movement. He grabs her by the waist and yanks her in close to his body. He whispers in her ear, “see that wasn’t so hard baby.” His breath smells horrible its a combination of gin, seafood, and tobacco as the smells seems to engulf the right side of her face. Her fight or flight instincts kick in as she thrashes her body against his to break the hold against her waist. Her attempt amuses him as he chuckles lowly in her ear and tightens his hold on her.

He runs his finger down her cheek where tears start trickling down her face. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?”

“Please let me go.”

“Oh sweetheart, I have no intention of letting you go tonight.” She begins to sob loudly as the thought of the ugliness that will come to her if she can’t escape this man. “Please let me go.”

Her resolve begins to weaken as she closes her eyes and praying that it will all be over quickly. As her eyes close she hears a set of footsteps quickly approach them. She opens her eyes to see Rio and Mick.

“Let her go,” Rio roared as he stood a couple of feet behind the man.

The man turned around to face him. “Who the hell do you think you are talking t–”

The man didn’t finish his sentence as Rio’s fist flew through the air and landed across his cheek, knocking the man to the ground. Mick pulled Beth out of the way as the guy struggles to stand back up. Before the man can reach his full height, Rio lands another punch to his face knocking him back down to the ground. Rio starts to viciously kick him on his sides resulting the man into the fetal position to protect further blows to his body.

The rage radiating off of Rio startles Beth. She has never seen someone go into such a fury to the point where they could kill someone in an instant. The cool, calm, collected demeanor of the man she has watched on television disappeared and has metaphorized into someone that truly scares her. She shouldn’t feel any type of sympathy for the man on the ground, but the amount of blood that gushes from his head is tugging on her heart strings. She looks to Mick to see if he will grab Rio and stop this savage beating but Mick looks like he is waiting to be tagged in. 

“Stop it!” Beth yells to get his attention to stop him from delivering a potentially fatal blow to the man. He ignores her plead and lands another kick to the man’s head.

“Rio stop you’re going to kill him!” She cries out.

Her cries seem to break through and stops the beating. She can hear the whimpers from the man on the ground. Rio squats down besides the man, in a low gravelly tone delivers the final blow. “Hey, look at me,” Rio nudges the man’s shoulder as the he cowers below Rio. “If I ever see you near her or anywhere ever again, I will slit your throat,” with an evil smirk across his face. “Do you understand me?”

The man nods vigorously. “Good,” Rio stands up and walks away from the guy to where they stand.

Beth is trembling, she needs to get away from them as fast as possible. She turns on her heels to go back to the party to alert the security but before she can get any speed underneath her, she feels a sharp tug on her left arm. Rio has a hold on her, and she can see that similar rage that was aimed towards the man, staring back at her. She yanks her arm away from him, “get the _fuck_ away from me.”

Rio furrows his brows, “what are you doin’ down here, Elizabeth? Huh?”

Beth turns away and continues to head back toward the party. Rio reaches for her arm again but before he can get a grasp on her she slaps him across his face.

“Do not touch me! Do not _ever_ touch me!”

Rio slides his hand down his jaw to ease the throb of where her palm landed. Agitation rolls off his shoulders as he steps closer to her. “Take her back to her room.”

Mick steps from around him to escort her back to her villa but as Mick extends his arm out for her to lead the way Beth spins around to regard Rio and give him a piece of her mind. Before she can get any words out, he cuts her off. “Elizabeth, go home.”

Mick nudges her to start walking back to her villa. As soon as she gets inside of her room, she notices that Dean is already passed out in the bed snoring. Beth scoffs, he didn’t even bother to look for her. She sheds her clothes and puts on her silk pajama shorts set she bought for the trip and climbs into the bed ready to put this day behind her.

She is falls asleep the second her head touches the pillow. 

– – Day 2 – –

Knock, Knock 

Knock, Knock

“Dean,” Beth moans as the loud banging at the door matches the jackhammer going off in her head.

Knock, Knock

“Dean! Get the door,” she yells from underneath the covers unable to move the bed.

Bang! Bang!

Beth grunts as she rises out of the bed to go answer the door. She regrets all of the Bourbons and Mai Tai’s she had last night. She opens the door to see a waiter holding a tray.

“Good Morning, Mrs. Boland,” the waiter greets as he enters the villa to set the tray down on the small dining room table.

“Umm…Hi, it’s actually Ms. Marks,” as she soothes circles into her head to calm the constant throbbing she feels. “I think you have the wrong room. I didn’t order any food.”

“Enjoy!” The waiter closes the door behind him. Whatever the waiter just delivered smells amazing.

Beth is standing in the middle of the room trying to remember what happened last night. She hasn’t blacked out like this since Annie’s 21st birthday two years ago. She needs coffee first before she can dissect the events that happened last night.

She walks into the dining room and lifts up the metal lid off the tray to see scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and a bowl of mixed fruit. As she begins to unravel the silverware to dig into her meal, there is another knock at the door.

She opens the door to see that there is no one standing before her but a brown paper bag on the ground with her name scrawled across.

She bends down to pick up the bag and empties the contents on the bag. Pain medication, a bottle of water and a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. She picks back up the bag and traces her finger along her name once more. _Elizabeth_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've already started the outline for the next three chapters so hopefully I will have time to upload them on a weekly basis. Please leave kudos and comments if you want to read more. Follow me on Tumblr @yellowhammerga
> 
> Four Seasons Bora Bora: https://www.fourseasons.com/borabora/accommodations/villas/one_bedroom_deluxe_fenua_beachfront_villa_with_pool/ 
> 
> Beth's Dress: https://www.ashelystyle.com/products/summer-dress-women-2020-plus-size-casual-sexy-maxi-dress-bohemian-sundress-vestidos-de-verano-robe-femme-long-floral-party-dress


	3. It's Only Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth vaguely has any recollection from what happened the night before. She just wants to put all of the drama behind her and enjoy her vacation but will Rio and Dean let her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish translations and a picture of Beth's dress will be at the end of the chapter. Sorry that's it has taken me so long to update but I hope you enjoy! Just to reiterate that this story is unbeta'd all mistakes are my own.

The events of last night comes in waves throughout the morning. She remembers finding the text messages on Dean’s phone, Rio flirting with her at the bar, getting drunk at dinner and at the luau, the creep at the beach, Rio defending her honor by savagely attacking said creep, and being so fearful and angry that Rio defended her honor in the first place. This is not how she imagined how her tropical vacation would start so she makes a promise to herself to start fresh. The best way to start is by charging multiple spa services to Dean’s credit card that the resort has on file. 

Beth is still infuriated with Dean after last night and decides to treat her visit to the Spa like an all-you-can-eat buffet. First, she starts with a ritual massage, the Taurimi Mind and Body, a traditional Polynesian healing experience to provide harmony and balance into the body. Three hours later after her spiritual cleanse, a facial, a manicure and pedicure she makes way to Dean’s last treat to herself a Polynesian deep tissue massage that’s she read rave reviews about on TripAdvisor that she can’t wait to try. 

One of the spa attendants direct her onto a platform which steps into an overwater suite. The room has two massage tables sitting over glass panels above a lagoon. As she steps further into the room there is a set of French doors that open up to a deck where a small hot tub lies in the center. She steps around the hot tub to lean against the railing at the end of the deck and gazes upon the crystal blue water of the Pacific Ocean. She is truly in paradise. She inhales the scent of the ocean and closes her eyes to take it all in. Momentarily ignoring her name being called by Kailee, the masseuse.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so breathtaking,” she smiles towards Kailee. 

She disrobes and lies on the table in her towel tightly knotted around her frame. She was a bit hesitant when she first entered the spa when they told her that some of her services would require her to be briefly nude. She hasn’t been naked in front of another person who wasn’t Dean or Annie in such a long time, and it had her frazzled. She still experiences bouts of panic when she goes in for Bikini waxes at her Brazilian wax center near her apartment. 

She relaxes into Kailee’s hands as she unwinds every deep knot that seems embedded into her skin. She wonders if this is as close to nirvana she will ever feel as she closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep. She awakens slowly when Kailee hits a small gong with a clothed mallet to signal the end of the massage. She wipes the drool from the corner of her mouth as she slowly sits up on the table. She quickly walks over to the coat hook in the corner to grab her robe to cover her naked body from viewing pleasure from passing guests. 

“Beautiful sight ain’t it?” Rio drawls. 

Beth hastily puts on her robe and clutches it tightly around her frame to hide from his scrutiny. 

She whips around and narrows her eyes at the bane of her existence. 

“Excuse me?” 

Rio bites his bottom lip as his gaze scans her body wishing she would unclench her fists from around the robe’s lapels so he can catch another glimpse of her porcelain skin. He chuckles lowly as a red flush begins to form down her neck. 

“The view, querida” 

She huffs unsure of what he just said. “God, you’re just like herpes you never go away, do you?” She steels herself in preperation for a lewd comment to fall from his pouty lips. 

Rio takes in her stiff posture smirks and steps further into the room. 

“What are you doing here?” She asks in a feeble voice. 

“Came to check on you.”

“I don’t need you to do that. I’m fine. I don’t need any help from you.” She watches as he inches closer to her just a mere foot shy of where she stands. 

Rio chuckles showing off his pearly white teeth. 

She wonders what he finds so damn amusing. 

“Sure seem to need it last night.” He takes another step. 

“I was handling it. I’m not just some lamb to the slaughter I can take care of myself,” she lifts her chin to convey confidence in her voice. 

The truth was that he was right she needed someone to help her last night to escape the ugliness that crept on her at the beach. She was not going to admit defeat in front of this infuriating being. 

He steps closer into her space flooding her nostrils with his intoxicating cologne. She steps back until the railing hits her spine to put some distance in between them. 

“Right. Right. See from where I was standing things were about to get ugly real bad but like you said you were ‘handling’ it,” he says sarcastically. 

Beth rolls her eyes at the arrogance of this man. 

He closes the distance cornering her against the railing. He leans down a couple of inches until their eyes are eye level. He watches her pupils flicker back and forth between his lips and his eyes. He steps in closer to where their lips are a hair’s breadth away from touching. She swallows as the tension in the air crackles waiting for him to close the gap to kiss her. He slides his lips across her cheek to the outside of her ear smirking at the affect he has on this firecracker. He whispers in her ear, “you’re welcome querida.” 

She opens her eyes to watch him striding toward the door unaware that she closed them when his lips grazed her cheek. Right as he’s about to leave, he looks over his shoulder to see her frozen in her spot unable to make sense of what just happened in the last five seconds. 

“Next time you want to go off on your own in the middle of the night yeah, don’t,” with his last parting words he steps out of the room leaving her to soak into his caution. 

She releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding and shakes this shiver that is creeping up her spine from the man who just left. 

– – The Pool – – 

The sun is blistering hot on this side of the world. Dean is lying face down on the poolside chaise waking up from his mid-morning nap. He flips over on the chair to apply additional SPF 50 onto his body, as he feels his body starting to overheat from the beaming sun. He doesn’t want a repeat of last summer after Beth and him went on a day trip to Lake Michigan where he burned like a slice of fried bologna sausage. He stands up to go for a dip in the pool to cool off as he makes his way to the water, he spots Dylan reading a magazine on a nearby chair. 

He checks her out while she is engulfed reading a Cosmopolitan magazine. She’s just on the shorter side of the type of women that he usually goes for but she’s gorgeous. He watches her put down the magazine to grab sunscreen and begins to apply it onto her arms. She drops a small glob onto her chest and begins to rub it in and he’s transfixed on her ministrations around her breasts making sure there is not an inch uncovered. She looks up suddenly as if she can feel his eyes focused on her fingers around her areolas spreading the lotion and makes eye contact at him. He flashes red immediately embarrassed at being caught staring at her, but she graciously smiles at him gesturing for him to come over. 

Dean walks over to her and sits down as she makes space for him on her chair. 

“Hi,” Dean awkwardly blurts out. 

She thrusts her arms around his neck embracing him into a hug. He is thrown off guard by her proximity and wraps his arms around her sniffing the shampoo in her hair. 

“I heard what happened last night with Beth. Is she alright?” She whispers into his ear. 

“Umm yeah she’s fine. This happens to her at least once a week especially when she is with her friends.”

She’s taken aback at his comment. “Every week?” 

“Yeah especially when she’s down a few glasses of Bourbon but don’t worry about it she always bounces back in the morning.” 

A look of concern sketches on her face that this is possibly an occurrence for her.

“Oh my God. Has she gone to the police or talked to someone?” 

“No,” shaking his head. “She usually just sleeps it off and is back in the bakery the next day good as new.” 

She pulls him back into a hug and consoles him. “If there is anything you need or if she needs to talk to anyone please let me know. I worked as a grief counselor for a week at a women’s shelter in New York.” 

He leans out of her reach confusion etched on his face. “What?” 

“I’m so glad Rio was there last night to help her. He said it was bad I m–”

“I’m sorry,” he chuckles lowly with a goofy look on his face. “I’m not following. Why would Rio help Beth?” 

It dawns on her that Dean has no inkling on what happened to Beth the previous night. She tells him about Beth wandering to the beach and how the man accosted her, Rio and Mick showing up to help rescue her, and Mick walking her back to the villa. Dean is dumbfounded that all of this happened under his nose. He was so upset with her last night after she threw the drink in his face, he headed back to their room without any regard for her. When he woke up this morning, he was still upset with her but figured she was fine since she was passed out in their bed. He needed time to cool off, so he headed to the pool and enjoy some time of way from the drama. 

He scoffs thinking of Rio playing Prince Charming rescuing her from the horrible monster. He can feel a knot in his stomach beginning to form over the thought of someone putting their hands on her. That’s what’s troubling him the most that he wasn’t there for her when she needed him. He needs to make it up to her. A lightbulb goes off in his head on how he can make things right with her and turn this vacation around.

After his talk with Dylan he heads into the hotel lobby to make arrangements with the concierge. He orders a romantic candlelit dinner on the beach, the finest champagne they have available, chocolates, and a bouquet of roses. 

– – Beth’s & Dean’s Villa – – 

Beth returns back to the villa finding a trail of rose petals leading to the bathroom and chocolates in the shape of a heart on their bed. She follows the trail of roses where she finds the bathtub filled with bubbles and a sprinkle of roses floating on top. 

Dean steps into her view from the patio. She hasn’t seen or spoken to him since his vodka shower last night. 

“What is all of this Dean?” Beth gesturing to the setup around their room. 

“I was an ass last night and I just want to show you how sorry that I am.” 

She looks back around at the room and see the effort that he put in to make this romantic. She wants to take this in as a kind gesture but can’t help to think about those text messages from Amber. Before she can say anything, he rambles on in his apology tour. 

He walks up behind her and starts massaging her shoulders. “Bethie, I really want to make this right between us. So, relax and enjoy your bath and I want you to get dressed up tonight I have something special planned for us.” 

He lays a kiss on the side of her head and walks back into the bedroom to let her be alone with her thoughts. 

She closes the doors to the bathroom, undresses, and dips her toes into the tub to see if it’s the right temperature. It’s scorching hot just the way she likes it. She closes her eyes and melts into the tub allowing the bubbles to take over any tension her body has coiled inside since her “talk” with Rio at the spa. She shakes her head to rid of any thoughts of that man she just wants to enjoy this bath and can’t wait to see how much groveling Dean will do at dinner this evening. 

As the tension in her muscles begin to unwind, her thoughts drift back to a set of plump lips that she just wants to take a bite out of. The memory of hearing a voice whispering querida in her ear ignites heat to pool low in her belly. She imagines a pair of strong tan hands that delivered brutal blows to her attacker caressing her body. Her hand slides down her belly and makes way to her folds. Her thumb begins rubbing small circles on her clit as her middle finger slips between her lips. She slips the other hand into the water and fondles her breasts, pulling her taut nipples into peaks. A soft moan escapes her mouth as she imagines those pouty lips wrapped her around nipples while his long fingers pump in and out of her. She begins to rub faster as she slips another digit deeper inside to increase the pressure. Water is sloshing out of the tub as her body writhes with the imagination of his ministrations. She’s close. She can feel her orgasm rising and she begins to chase it when she hears a knock on the door pulling her from her thoughts. 

“Bethie? You alright?” 

She moves her fingers out from between her legs and sits up a bit straight as the door slides open a nudge. 

“I’ll be right out,” she says flustered. 

“You sure you’re alright? You look a little red.” 

“I’m fine just a little overheated in the water.” 

“Ok don’t stay in too long we have dinner at 7.” He slides the door back closed. 

She sinks back into the tub annoyed with the fact that her mind A) drifted to Rio and B) frustrated that Dean interrupted her session. 

– – 

Beth is quiet during the first couple of courses at dinner, picking at the food on her plate. 

“Everything alright with the food?” 

“Yeah, it’s delicious,” as she pushes a piece of the local fish around with her fork.

“You’ve hardly touched your dinner,” he presses. 

“It’s fine.” 

“You sure? We can always to get them to whip something up special for you. We have a private chef for the evening.” He signals for the waiter to come take her plate away. 

“I said it’s fine Dean,” she hisses. 

Annoyed that he won’t stop pressing her about eating the food. He has never paid attention to what she’s eaten before so why start now. 

He waves the waiter off as the man approaches the table. A dull silence surrounds them as the waves crash against the ocean in the background. It’s truly romantic that he’s planned every detail out to make this evening special for them, but she can’t shake all of the events that have transpired between them over the past couple of days. 

He clears his throat unable to stand the silence anymore. “You look radiant this evening, Bethie.” 

“Thank you.” 

She decided to wear a tight figure-hugging blue and white stripped floral dress, accompanied with a watermelon-shaped clutch paired with nude pumps for when they go dancing at the luau afterwards. She wanted to wear a pair of sandals since they’ll be dining on the beach this evening but Dean pushed for her to wear the heels so he wouldn’t have to crane his neck much when they dance. 

“You always look beautiful,” he says warmly. 

She smiles weakly at him unable for it to meet her eyes. 

“Remember our first apartment in Hamtramck the one with the linoleum?”

She laughs thinking of how simple things were back then between them. 

“Do you remember that the hallway always smelled like pierogis?” 

“Pierogis like 24/7. It smelled terrible.” She chuckles thinking back on how she would spray the hallway once a week walk with air freshener to kill the smell. 

“Did we ever find out where the smell was coming from?” 

She laughs, “it was Mrs. Kowalski from down the hall.” 

“The Polish woman who lived in 3B?” 

“Yep, she made them for her husband every night when he came home from work.” 

“Man, that apartment had a lot of memories. I remember everything was always broken and Mr. Jorge would never come to fix anything even though you baked his son all of those cupcakes for his sixth birthday.” 

“We had some good times.” 

“We hated that apartment, but we were always so happy in there. I knew then that I could never love anyone as much as I love you. What happened to us Bethie?” 

Somberness took over as she couldn’t muster anything to say because she didn’t know how they went from being that happy loving couple who spent all of their time together to two roommates who happen to share a bed. 

“I know that the past few months things have been off between us especially with me always being in New York working and you down at the bakery making sure it’s successful, but I miss us.” 

She reaches for wine anything to distract her from having this conversation with him. It’s too much right now and she is emotionally empty to dive into every reason on how their relationship ended up in this state. 

“I don’t disagree.” 

“This vacation is to help us get back to the couple who lived in that shitty apartment. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Bethie and have that big family we’ve always talked about. Four kids running around driving us crazy,” he chuckles. 

“You forgot to add the Golden Retriever and if my memory serves me right you were going to quit your job and take over Boland Motors.” 

He smiles, “I gave up on Boland Motors since my dad is grooming Chip to take over the business when he retires but I still want everything else with you. Do you?” 

She looks into his eyes and sees the vulnerability in them. He is honestly trying, and she can at least meet him half-way and put his cheating behind them. 

“Yeah, I want that too,” she smiles back at him. 

“Great. I hope you’re not full, but I had them make your favorite dessert, Crème Brûlée.” 

It’s actually his favorite dessert. 

After dessert, they go on a moonlit stroll heading back to the main area of the hotel to swing by the luau to dance off all of the calories they devoured. The party must be near as the bass of the drums thrum in their ears. 

They stop in their tracks. 

Dean turns to stand in front of her. “What do you say about us skipping the party tonight?” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, I’m kinda tired and I want to spend some time alone.” He looks down at her sheepishly in hopes that she will takes this olive branch. 

“Yeah that sound’s nice,” she smiles at him warmly. 

He turns back around to fall in step with her as they continue up the path. A loud buzzing thrums in his pants pocket as they’re walking, he reaches in his pants to check to see who could be calling him. His office knows he’s on vacation and the only person who needs to contact him about work is at the resort with him. He looks at the screen to see that it’s Chris Newman, a rep from Travel Channel. 

“Sorry, I have to take this it’s work.” He steps aside to answer the call. 

“Dean don’t take too long,” she says sternly. 

She walks to a nearby rock to perch upon while he finishes the call. This will give her a chance to rest her feet. This was a terrible idea to wear heels on this rocky pathway her heels keep getting caught between the rocks. As she is rubbing the soles of her feet a shadow appears before her. 

“That didn’t take long,” as she looks up to see it’s her stalker and his date. 

She scoffs, stops rubbing soothing circles on her soles and stands to regard the nuisance before her. 

“Evenin’,” he drawls as his gaze rakes over her form. 

“Oh my God Beth! Chris told me what happened to you last night. How are you feeling?” Dylan reaches for Beth and pulls her into a tight hug. 

Before Beth can comprehend why Dylan feels the need to touch her. She whispers into her ear, “I’m here if you need someone to talk to.” Beth pulls back from the invasion with a tight smile. 

She steps out of her embrace to regard them when she notices that they’re lacking another presence besides them. 

“Where’s your shadow? You finally let him off his leash?” 

Rio chuckles, “he’s packing right now, he’s got to head back to Detroit in the morning to handle some business. That good with you?” 

Before she can respond, Dean walks back over to them. 

“That was Chris Newman, from Travel,” he turns his body towards Rio. 

“Yeah? What he wants?” Rolling his shoulders bracing himself for Chris’s usual demands. Ever since he made the announcement of his new partnership with Nat Geo, Chris has been riding him about fulfilling his contractual obligations by filming additional segments. 

“He wants you to cover the Heiva festival in Tahiti in two days.” 

“Thought that was back in July?” 

“It is but they had to push it back this year due to the hurricanes that did some damage on the other islands.” 

“Yeah, I don’t work while I’m on vacation. Why don’t they get the new guy to film?” 

“You’re the closest one. It’s just one day tops you’ll have to spend there. All you have to do is walk around, watch some of the dance competitions, eat some of the local foods from the street vendors, and judge a surf competition and that’s it.” 

“Ooh baby, that sounds like fun.” Dylan nudges him in the shoulder to persuade him to do it. 

Beth cringes at hearing baby coming from her mouth. She cringes in general of anything that comes out of that woman’s mouth. It’s not that she dislikes Dylan because she doesn’t know her, but she’s seems vapid to her liking. 

“When do we leave?” 

“We’ll need to leave by tomorrow night. He already has your crew on the way as we speak, they should land by tomorrow afternoon in Pape’ete. So, we’ll fly there tomorrow, have you do a pre-production meeting with the team to go over the schedule and by Thursday we’ll start filming. We’ll be back by Friday afternoon at the latest. Sounds good?” 

Beth turns to Dean irritated. “Are you serious right now?” 

Dean ignores her and continues to look at Rio waiting for him to assure him that he’ll actually show up tomorrow. 

Rio furrows his brows; he hates doing stuff like this. It’s the main reason why he pushed for Creative control at Nat Geo so he can stop doing dog and pony shit like this again. “Yeah,” he wraps his arm around Dylan’s waist, and they begin to walk away. 

Dean calls after them, “see you tomorrow.” 

He needs to make some calls and re-arrange some stuff for the festival since Mick will be gone, he’ll need to have Cisco and the team to meet him in Pape’ete instead of coming straight here. He pulls out his cell phone and starts making calls. 

“Dean!” She hisses. “What was all that back there?” 

“What was what?” 

“That” she scowls her face to show she is not in the mood to play his stupid games. “We just talked about spending more time together and you’re about to leave me on our vacation to go work?” 

“I don’t have a choice Bethie. What did you want me to do?” He throws his arms up unsure of what did she expect him to do. Rio is a big client for him, and he needs to make sure everything runs smoothly so he can get promoted to the New York office. 

She looks at him with resignation, “Nothing Dean. Absolutely nothing. Just forget it.” She starts walking away from him headed back to the villa to put some space in between them. Except that’s part of their problem the need to distance themselves when they’re annoyed or upset with one another they’ve had too much space over the years. 

“Hold up Bethie,” Dean jogs up to catch up with her. “I know this suck, but I meant what I said back at dinner. Why don’t you come with us? You can use this as inspiration to create new desserts for your bakery.”

“I don’t know Dean”

“Come on it’ll be fun we get to experience a whole new culture. You’ll have fun trust me.” He starts pouting like a puppy dog. She hates when he makes this face because he looks so silly. 

“The face won’t work,” she chuckles. 

He pouts even more. 

“I mean it Dean,” she keeps laughing. 

He leans down to their eye level and extends his bottom lip out even more. 

“Fine, I’ll go but it’s not because you begged me. I need inspo for the bakery.”

He stands up straight and wraps his arms around her in a hug. “Thanks, Bethie you won’t regret this!” 

– – Rio’s Villa – – 

She isn’t typically someone he goes for, but she makes him laugh. He likes how flustered he can make her with just a few choice words. She’s interesting to him and he can’t figure what it is about her that makes him want to find out how far that blush can go. He finds himself drifting to wherever she is, and they’ve only spent maybe a total of twenty minutes alone since they first met at the airport bar. He was late meeting Dylan by the pool after he saw her entering in the private room at the spa. He waited nearby the room for the massage to finish before he approached her to check on her. His muscles were still wound tight from when he found that man harassing her last night. If she hadn’t called out his name that man would have been dead. He feels a sense of protection over her for some reason and it’s really unsettling because he’s here with Dylan. Before he has a chance to reflect on it anymore Mick enters the living room of his villa. 

“You out?” 

“Yeah, I’m all packed up.” Mick lifts up his duffle bag to show it’s all there. 

“Ev’rything all squared away back home?” 

“Yeah I got Eddie and Bullet meeting me at the restaurant to check on the renovations.” 

“Aight lemme know if there are any problems. I already told Joe that he’s behind in putting in the counter tops.”

Mick nods. “Cisco and Dags should be on the way tomorrow. Their flight leaves out in the morning.” 

Rio walks up to Mick and pulls him into a hug. “You be safe bro.” 

“You too, hermano.” 

Mick and Rio have been friends since they were ten. They have always been inseparable since they were younger when Mick’s family move to Forest Park. Back in high school, they used to boost cars and steal parts to restore Mick’s dad old Caddy. They got in so much trouble once his dad found out and made him work at his Abuelos’s taqueria on the Southside the summer going into their junior year. He discovered his love for cooking that summer. 

There is nobody he trusts more to head his security team than Mick. Once his show exploded on Travel Channel, he hired other boys they grew up with in the neighborhood to work for them, Mr. Cisco, Dags, Bullet and Bullet’s younger brother, Eddie. 

As Mick is walking towards the front door he calls out to his friend. 

“Aye, mantente alejado de la mujer roja.” 

Rio smirks at his best friend for over twenty years, “What woman?” 

He could never slip anything past his friend not even his growing attraction to this red-headed woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave any kudos or comments if you liked the chapter. I hope to have the next chapter up soon. 
> 
> Beth's dress: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/6296896/christina-hendricks-flaunts-her-curves-in-tight-dress-paired-with-a-watermelon-clutch-on-the-red-carpet/ 
> 
> Translations: 
> 
> Querida – Darling   
> Mantente alejado de la mujer roja – Stay away from the red woman


	4. Mayday! Mayday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day Three brings on the shenanigans and more vodka!

“Have you heard from Annie?”

“Huh? I can’t hear you. Come closer to the phone.”

Ruby huffs out of breath picking back up the phone off the counter to resume their facetime.

“Sorry B, I was replenishing the tarts after this morning’s rush. I said have you talked to Annie?”

“No, why? Something happened?”

Ruby doesn’t get a chance to respond before Beth is hurling questions her way.

“Did she lose her job? Don’t tell me Boomer is harassing her again?”

Ruby shakes her head to each question. “Oh God, something happened to Ben?”

The look on her best friend’s face is worrying her that something monstrous has happened to her baby sister.

“What?! What happened?! I’m freaking out over here.”

Ruby huffs, “You just need to talk to your sister.”

“Just tell me. Is it something serious? Do I need to cancel my trip early and come home?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Then what?! Tell me.” Beth screeches on the phone. Annoyance is seeping in with the run around her friend is giving her.

“Ruby,” Beth sits up straight in the lounge chair. “Just tell me, please.”

“She slept with Greg,” she mumbles into the phone.

“I can’t hear you I think your hand is covering the speaker again.”

She sighs. “I said she slept with Greg,” she closes her eyes silently cursing herself for betraying Annie’s trust.

“Are you kidding me?” Beth grits through her teeth.

“It happened a couple of days ago. She said it was just a drunken mistake made off cheap vodka and cereal.”

Beth goes silent. Disbelief that her sister would backslide with her ex that broke her heart and left her as a single mother taking care of their six-year-old son. She remembers having to pick up her sister off her bathroom floor when she found out he moved on with some esthetician named Nancy and begun building a life with her. That was just seven months ago. Why would she subject herself through that emotional turmoil again?

“Say something B,” Ruby pleads.

“What is there to say? She’s an adult she can make her own mistakes, but I’m done. Tell her don’t come crawling to me when he breaks her heart again.”

“Sweetie don’t be like that. She’s still in love with him.”

“Did you forget that the bastard is suing her for custody with his new girlfriend?”

“Trust me I’ve already lectured her about this but she’s going to do what she wants to do. Please just call her.”

“I have nothing to say to her. She couldn’t even tell me herself.”

She’s frustrated with her sister for sleeping with him again. Hurt that she felt she couldn’t come and tell her. They used to be able to tell each other anything despite the disapproval that may come with it. Thought they were closer than that.

“You know what Ruby I have to go. Dean signed us up for surf lessons.”

It’s too early in the morning to have this conversation and honestly, she just doesn’t feel like dealing with the drama. She knows how this will play out with a broken-hearted Annie crying on her shoulder.

“Hate you,” Ruby smiles softly.

“Hate your face,” she smiles back weakly and hangs up the phone.

This is not how she expected her morning to turn out so far. She hasn’t even had a chance to have her morning coffee before Annie blows through with this shitstorm.

She walks back into the villa to wake up Dean to see if he wants to go have breakfast. As she gets closer to the bed, she notices empty sheets.

Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh

She walks over to the bathroom and knocks on the door.

“Dean, you okay?”

“Ugh”

“Dean?”

“Ugh…”

She slides the door open to find Dean hunched over the toilet looking green in the face.

“Dean, what’s wrong?” She rushes over to him and scrunches down to rub soothing circles in his back.

He mumbles incoherent words into the toilet.

“I can’t hear you.”

He leans his head out of the toilet. “I feel terrible I can’t stop throwing up.”

His face looks green.

“You can’t be hungover we didn’t drink much last night. Did you eat something else after I went to sleep?”

He grasps ahold of the rim around the toilet as the nausea makes its return. “No, just what we ate for dinner.”

She thought back into what they ate last night, and it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary just a salad, a chilled soup, and the fish. She didn’t eat much since she lost her appetite thinking about how Dean could be cheating on her with another woman. He however devoured his entire plate.

“It was probably the fish. Do you want me to give you some medicine? I have some Pepto.”

Dean extends his hand out waiting for her to drop the pink potion into his hands. She retrieves the medicine in her toiletries bag and gives it to him. “I’ll order some ginger ale and saltine crackers for you that should help.”

He waves her off to dismiss her as another wave of vomit heaves out of his body.

She leaves the villa in need of an escape from caring for a sick Dean and the drama between her and Annie. She enjoys the rest of her day by exploring the resort and all of the fun amenities they have to offer.

She signs up for a Hula dance class in the afternoon held at the main pavilion. The class was just what she needed she had so much fun. The instructor passed out grass skirts for them to put on and to get the full experience. She tried her best to keep up with the instructor, Leila, as she moved her hips in a circular motion, but Beth was stiff at best. Dance has never been her strong suit she grooves to her own rhythm which happens to never match the beat in the music. Leila was very accommodating as she stood closer to her to help her create more motion in her hips. She was just happy that she wasn’t the only terrible dancer in the lot.

After the lesson, she enjoyed a nice lunch spread by the poolside sipping Mai Tai’s and people watching. She yearned to call the girls and tell them about her day and Dean being a big baby this morning, but she wasn’t in the mood to divulge back into the drama of this morning’s revelation. She checks her phone for the time, knowing she has to make way back to her villa to pack for their flight this evening. She didn’t understand why they just couldn’t leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow to fly to the island it’s not like it would be a long flight. The flight itself is less than an hour. Dean insisted that they leave tonight to get settled into their hotel rooms and prep the team for tomorrow.

When she walked back into her room, it was pitch black, Dean was in the middle of their bed in a fetal position, with the shutters closed shut and the fan on high. She cut on the lights and walked over to him to see him shivering in the sheets, sweat dripping on his forehead, she leaned closer to his face and put the back of her hand up against his head to check his temperature. He was burning up.

“Dean, you’re on fire.” 

He groaned, “I’m fine, I just need some Tylenol and I’ll be good as new.”

“Are you still nauseous?” She pulled the duvet up on the bed so she can sit down. She needs to call the housekeeper to come in here and change the sheets. It reeks of vomit.

“No –” He springs out of the bed and runs to the bathroom instantly vomiting water out of his system.

“That’s it Dean, I’m calling Rio and telling him we’re not going. I’ll call the front desk and have them send the medic up to the room to check on you.”

He finishes in the bathroom and comes out to address her. “You can’t do that Bethie. If we pull out, he won’t go, and the network won’t be happy. They may not renew his contract and I’m this close to my promotion if I can show that I can manage this jackass.”

“What’s more important here? Your health or Christopher Martinez?”

“Listen Bethie, I just need some more medicine and I’ll be fine. It’s just an upset stomach I can handle it,” he walks back over to the bed to sit right beside her.

She immediately backs away from him. His breath smells horrid the fumes of vomit flooding her nostrils.

“You have food poisoning. You’re in no condition to be flying and going to a festival tomorrow. You need to rest and let this bug pass out of your system.”

He groans. “How about this? What if you still went and watch over him for me? At least that way I can stay here and get better.”  
  


“No,” she shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”

She rather jump off a cliff than spend two days stuck with Dylan and Rio. 

“Please Bethie, you’re the only person I can trust to make sure he actually shows up and do his job. I need you,” he pulls that stupid puppy dog look again. She hates this face because she always bends to his will.

“Think of all the delicious food you get to try, do some sightseeing, and even do some shopping for your girls. That sounds much better than to be cramped up in the room with me throwing up every five seconds. You should go.”

She can already feel her resolve weakening by considering going. It may not be that bad she can easily ditch them once they check into the hotel and do her own thing. An uninterrupted day of shopping and leisure. She researched last year’s dance competition on YouTube and the teams were really good. Plus, she can probably find some cute hand carved toys for Ben to play with while she is in the city.

“Fine, I’ll go. What time do I have to meet them at the lobby?”

He lunges at her and wraps his arms around her. “Thanks, Bethie! What would I do without you?”

He couldn’t do anything without her. It’s like taking care of a child all over again. She already raised Annie she doesn’t want to have to raise her own boyfriend.

She disentangles from him and stands up off the bed. “They’ll be in the lobby at 7.”

“You owe me big so think of some ways to make it up to mister.”

She walks over to the mini bar to grab the last remaining bottles of alcohol to put in her travel bag. She’ll need some assistance to deal with these two “lovebirds” on this trip.

– – Hotel Lobby – –

Beth checks her watch for the fifth time waiting for them to show up in the lobby. They’re over thirty minutes late from meeting her. As she reaches to grab her luggage off the floor to signal the bellhop to take her back to her villa, she hears a whistle behind her.

“Damn ma, you packin’ for a week?” Rio smirks.

She stands up straight pushing her hair behind her left ear.

“You’re late,” she sneers.

“Sorry, I got a little caught up,” he bites his lower lip as his eyes pursue over her body.

Beth clears her throat. “Are you ready to go? Where’s Dylan? Is she on her way down?”

“Nah, she ain’t coming. She’s doing some yoga retreat down tomorrow. Where’s the boyfriend?”

“Dean”

“Mhm,” he nods slightly.

“He’s sick. He got food poisoning last night.”

He closes the distance between them and pushes the remaining hair strands out of her face. “Looks like it’s just you and me mami,” he says lowly.

He steps away from her and heads towards the entrance. “You comin’ or what?”

She lets out a breath and gathers her things as she begins to make way towards the door. This is about to be an interesting two days.

– –

“Will you stop?” He clenches his jaw.

“What?” she asks.

“Tapping your foot, it’s annoying.” He points down to her foot tapping against the floor of the car.

She’s nervous about spending time with Rio without Dean.

“Sorry, just a nervous habit.” She stills her foot.

“Yeah, what you nervous about?”

“Flying,” she shifts in her seat under his gaze.

He smirks. She’s lying.

The car comes to a stop at the airfield. The driver comes around and opens her door to help her out of the car.

She scans the field looking for their plane. “Great, the plane’s not here. Are we at the right airfield?” She looks in the direction to the driver.

“Yes m’am, you’re flying out of Notu Miku?”

She nods.

“I don’t see our plane out here.” She walks over to Rio.

“There it is darlin’,” he points to a Beaver gray sea plane, with a red propeller and a red stripe along the side.

“You have got to be serious. We are not flying in that!”

“What’s wrong wit it?”

“What’s wrong? It looks like it will break down on us.”

“You’ll be in great hands. Lucy’s as a good as new,” a man comes around the corner and pats the side of the plane. “Hi, I’m Captain Jack. You must be Mr. Martinez.”

“Yo. I’m Rio and this is Elizabeth,” he approaches the man to shake his hand.

“I thought it was four of you. Are we still waiting on the others?”

“Naw, it’s just us.”

“Okay we should be able to take off in about twenty minutes.” Captain Jack begins to load up their luggage and some cargo crates in the back of the plane.

She looks up at the overcast in the sky. The darken clouds are vastly approaching over the horizon. A storm is brewing.

“Is it safe for us to fly?”

“You should be able to beat the storm if you leave in the next five minutes.”

She snaps her head fast at Captain Jack. “I’m sorry are you not coming with us?”

“No m’am I’m not flying tonight.”

“Then who is flying us?” She looks around in hopes she sees someone else approaching the plane to fly them to Tahiti.

“Me,” Rio points to himself.

“You can’t fly us!” She furrows her brows.

“Why not?” Rio rolls his shoulders. Irritation once again seeping into his skin every time he spends more than five minutes around this woman.

“What… You… Do you even know how to fly?”

“I got my pilot license. I can fly this little plane to Tahiti.”

Her mouth flies open unable to formulate any words or any other excuses as to why she doesn’t want to go on this trip with this man.

“Trust me sweetheart, I’m the best you’ve ever been with,” he steps into the plane.

Beth looks up to the sky says a silent prayer and climbs in.

Beth unbuckles her seat belt and climbs into the co-pilot seat shortly after taking off. He looks like he’s in his element as he navigates the yoke, the steering wheel, he has a sense of calmness at the way he can control the movements of this plane.

She clears her throat. “So how long have you been flying?”

A silence passes between them. She is about to give up and head back to her seat when he answers.

“About five years.”

“What made you learn?”

“Just wanted to.”

“Do you fly yourself often when you’re filming?”

“We playin’ 20 questions or somethin’?”

“No,” she blushes red. “I’m just making conversation.”

He glances over at her arching his eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“So how long have you been with _Dean?”_ He says as if he has a bad taste in his mouth.

“Almost five years.”

He whistles. “That’s a long time. Bet you ready for him to propose ain’t ya?”

She shifts in her seat at any mention of her marrying Dean. It’s not that she hasn’t wondered if he would pop the question on this trip. It’s been a constant thought since he first suggested them to celebrate their anniversary in Bora Bora. But after the past couple of months that they’ve had and after the conversation they had last night she’s not sure marriage is something she wants right now.

He looks back over her noticing the moment of silence.

“That’s none of your business,” she shuts down.

“Just makin’ conversation sweetheart.”

“Stop calling me that! I’m not your –” Beth yelps when the plane hits turbulence.

“What was that?” She grabs ahold of the dashboard for stability.

“Relax, darlin’ it’s just some bad weather. We’re about 20 minutes out I can make it,” he turns his attention back to out the window.

A large lightning strike flashes in front of them.

“We should just go back and fly out tomorrow.” Beth urges for Rio to turn the plane around as thunder crackles around them.

Beth reaches into her purse and grabs the mini bottle of vodka and downs it in one gulp to calm her nerves. She’s terrified as there doesn’t seem to be any signs of the weather clearing up anytime soon. As she reaches down for the second bottle, she jumps a little out of her seat as the plane dips down a bit.

The lightning strike hits the tail.

  
“Now what was that?!”

“We’ve been hit,” he reaches for the radio to call into the control tower to signal for assistance.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”

“What do you mean we’ve been hit?” She clutches her eyes shut trying to grasp the magnitude of what is happening. She is on the verge of losing her shit she desperately needs that second bottle ASAP.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”

He ignores her and continues to try to radio in but hearing no response to his avail. He reaches up to the electrical panel flipping the radio switch but there is no feedback coming through.

_Fuck!_ He clenches his jaw thinking through his options. He can attempt to try, and finish flying this _old piece of shit_ to Tahiti or land somewhere until the storm passes. He looks out the window on his left to see if he can spot any patches of land but it’s so dark outside it’s hard to see. 

Beth is working on her fifth bottle pulling all of her attention into getting the last bit of drops at the bottom of the bottle.

“You wanna slow down there, yeah?”

She ignores him.

“Aight, we goin’ to have land somewhere until this passes, yeah?”

She reaches for the radio in the center. “Attention Cloud 9 shoppers, there is a sale on blenders on aisle 3.”

He leans over to grab it out of her hands.

“There is a spill on aisle –”

He snatches the radio from her.

“Hey, what’s your problem?!” She slurs. 

“Listen sweetheart, we’re in deep shit so get your head straight! Now sit back and buckle up,” he reaches for her seat belt and fastens it.

She giggles uncontrollably. “Aye Captain,” she salutes.

He rolls his eyes silently cursing at Dean for making him go to this festival.

He looks back out of the window to see if he can spot any land through the dark clouds. God must have been listening because some of the clouds below him begin to shift and clear out as he spots a small island off to the right.

While the plane is descending it starts shaking profusely the closer, they get to land. He grips the wheel tight and pulls back on the lever as the island is coming closer in sight. He applies pressure on the brake to help reduce the speed, but nothing seems to help. He deploys the wing flaps, but they’re trapped in a crosswind so it’s becoming unbearably hard. He releases the landing gear and pulls back with all of his might but one of the wheels pop off when they hit a rock hurling the plane across the beach crashing into a palm tree. The rough impact thrusts both of their heads against the seat hard rendering Elizabeth unconscious. He tries to reach out for her but is vision fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me 🙈! This trip just went up a notch.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to read more please leaves kudos or comment below. Follow me on Tumblr @YellowhammerGA


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